BEEFY stars like Russell Crowe are more attractive to female film fans in the recession, according to experts.

The Hollywood hunks will swell their ranks of fans at the expense of stars with skinnier body types, such as Zac Efron and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Sociologist Bernard Salt, a partner with business analysts KPMG, said that as the global financial crisis wore on, women would turn a keener eye to a motor mechanic for a life partner rather than an investment banker.

Salt, an Australian, said: "The recession will see the demise of the metrosexual.

"In a boom, women are not worried about their financial security and are attracted to attractive, slim, weedy, geeky, metrosexual hairless males.

Safety "During the downturn, the theory is that women are concerned about safety, security and food supply, so their taste in men will shift from the androgynous, hairless men towards the more muscular, primal, hairy male." Salt added that the most eligible bachelors in the credit crunch might be plumbers, electricians and other tradesman who had skills marketable in good times and in bad..